(Failing to Make) A Documentary About My Sudanese Family (2026)

Prepared by Movies Dock Editorial

In this 15-minute documentary, a filmmaker attempts to record a family trip against the backdrop of civil war in Sudan. As the journey unfolds, the act of documenting his relatives begins to challenge the film’s original purpose, creating a compact, self-questioning portrait shaped by family, conflict and creative uncertainty.

(Failing to Make) A Documentary About My Sudanese Family is a 2026 documentary directed by Sid Elbadawi. The film follows a filmmaker who tries to document a trip with his family while Sudan is affected by civil war.

Its central tension comes from the filmmaking process itself. Rather than proceeding as planned, the documentary begins to turn back on its own premise, making the effort to record the family journey part of the story.

(Failing to Make) A Documentary About My Sudanese Family movie details

Story without spoilers

The film centers on a filmmaker traveling with his Sudanese family and attempting to shape the experience into a documentary. The trip takes place in the shadow of civil war, placing a personal family record alongside a wider national crisis.

As the project develops, the process of making the film starts to undermine the film the filmmaker originally set out to create. The supplied synopsis presents this as a self-reflexive documentary about the difficulty of capturing family and conflict through the camera, without revealing how the project ultimately develops.

What to expect

Viewers can expect a concise, documentary-focused work built around a family trip, Sudan and the complications of filming during civil war. Its 15-minute runtime suggests a tightly contained presentation rather than an expansive account. The premise also points toward a self-aware structure in which the act of making the documentary becomes as important as the journey it records.

The film is listed in English and Arabic, indicating a bilingual spoken-language context. Beyond its documentary classification and premise, the supplied information does not specify its visual approach, tone or structure in greater detail.

Cast and creative team

Sid Elbadawi is credited as the director. No writers or cast members are listed in the supplied information. The production company is blue nile blue.

Release and production context

(Failing to Make) A Documentary About My Sudanese Family is listed as a 2026 documentary with a release date of October 13, 2026. It has a runtime of 15 minutes and is associated with English and Arabic spoken languages. The supplied metadata does not list a country of production.

Production companies: blue nile blue

Movies Dock view

With its short runtime and self-reflexive premise, the film is positioned as a focused documentary about the relationship between family, filmmaking and a Sudanese journey shaped by civil war. Its interest lies in how the attempt to document personal experience can alter the documentary being made.

Film data:
TMDB · IMDb